I would identify as a bit woo-woo. I know my zodiac signs (yes, there’s more than one), never skip my weekly horoscope, journal when it’s a full moon, and find a way to blame most shortcomings on the alignment of the planets.
Recently, I’ve started dabbling in tarot cards, this has led me down the internet rabbit hole of Etsy witches.
I’ve never personally thought of using a witch before, but for the unbelievably low price of $2.93, someone online could change my life, or so they claim. Surely, it was worth a shot, right?
A search of “witches and spells” on popular crafting website Etsy brings up more than 1000 results. From extreme obsession love spells to revenge karma spells and good weather spells, you can find almost anything on the platform.
I was booked in to do the Story Bridge sunset climb and paid $11.58 to an Etsy witch to cast a good weather spell for the evening.
The process was simple – the witch only needed a few small details (passport number, credit card details, mother’s maiden name…). I’m kidding, obviously.
But they did need my name, date of birth and a description of the weather I wanted. Within a few hours, I’d received photographic proof of my spell being cast, and a long description about the candles and herbs chosen.
Serena, my Etsy witch, started her message “to the beautiful Neesha Sinnya”. Flattery is always welcome, so naturally I instantly warmed to the beautiful Serena.
“Rose petals were used to soften the atmosphere and invite beauty into the experience. They draw in pleasant, aesthetically pleasing outcomes, which in your case, translates to a stunning sunset,” she wrote.
Next, she described the two candles she lit as part of the ritual. As they burnt, she visualised the sky clearing and calming winds.
“The wax melted smoothly without chaotic dripping. That tells me the process will unfold naturally, without dramatic interference. The energy did not feel resistant. It felt receptive,” she wrote.
The morning of my climb it was overcast, patches of dark clouds threatening to dampen my climbing experience – but I had faith.
By 6pm, I was kitted up and ready to climb, and the weather was looking ideal for a picture-perfect sunset.
On top of the bridge, Brisbane’s skyline looked magnificent. The guide even remarked that we could see the Glasshouse Mountains, which he said was rare.
I couldn’t help but wonder … maybe my Etsy witch was onto something?
Hoping for good weather and getting it is hardly groundbreaking, but the process of paying a witch, seeing the spell and watching it come true? That felt like magic to me.
The rabbit-hole of Etsy spells
I spoke with Emeritus Professor Philip Almond, who is well-versed on witchcraft, demonology, New Age movements and mystical experience.
According to him, nothing can’t be turned into a commercial opportunity.
“People are either doing this stuff because they genuinely believe in it or people are just exploiting a sort of quasi-religious movement to make a buck,” Almond said.
While many basic Etsy spells won’t cost more than $10, there are some advertised for far more.
A “make them suffer” spell, which promises to deliver karmic justice and a powerful hex, costs $209.75. For another $332.34, users can add a “powerful and unbreakable amplification” spell that promises to speed up and boost the initial spell.
On an even more ludicrous scale, users can pay a whopping $2976 for an “immortality blessing” – unless they can get it on special for $1041. This spell only has one review, from February 2025, with the user claiming it made her body “very youthful and glowing”.
Jake Blatchly, a member of the Ipswich Spiritual Community Facebook group, said the scepticism around witchcraft was “well and truly warranted”.
“There are a lot of charlatans, scam artists and con artists out there willing to take advantage of people’s hopes and fears to line their own pockets,” he said.
So, where does he stand on Etsy witches? He thinks paying for magic is overrated when the tools can be used yourself.
“Paying a witch on Etsy to cast a spell for you is equivalent to paying a televangelist like Joel Osteen to ask God to do something for you, when you could ask God yourself,” Blatchly said.
Despite having researched witchcraft for decades, Almond doesn’t think the Etsy witches, or any witches, hold any real merit.
“I think 99 times out of 100 [using an Etsy witch] is not going to do any harm,” Almond said.
“I say that because it’s not going to do any good either. Because I happen to be in a position where I don’t believe it works.”
Why are people drawn to witchcraft?
Witches might conjure images of pointy black hats, broomsticks and bubbling green cauldrons.But the core of modern witchcraft comes from neopaganism, which essentially uses nature at the core. Think: lunar cycles, crystals and herbs.
“So modern witchcraft, or wicca, is really a revival of that kind of neopaganism idea, which is focused primarily on the worship of nature, and nature is often personified,” Almond said.
“In the modern world, people are drawn to it because traditional religion has fallen to the wayside – people don’t want to be involved in organised, Christian religion in the West any longer.”
According to the 2021 census, the number of Christians in Australia had fallen by more than 1 million since the 2016 census, with 10 million reporting no religion at all.
“They’re looking for a kind of personalised religion – a religion for them – that gives everyone a personalised understanding of who they are,” Almond said.
Witches in our own backyard
Rachel Johnson, owner of West End store Spellbound Society, has been selling witch-related products for half a decade.
“At the time [of opening], I had just finished writing and illustrating my first oracle deck. Opening Spellbound Society was an outlet to share my illustrations and love of witchcraft,” she said.
Johnson first became interested in spirituality as a child.
“[There are misconceptions] that witchcraft is all about casting hexes, but for me personally, it’s about tapping into our own magical power and crafting the life of our dreams,” she said.
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